Compliance Radar

Who was sanctioned, and for what?

Fines, court rulings and incidents from Europe and North America: 756 cases from 32 jurisdictions, each with an official source and checked against that source before publication. Filter by country, area of law and sector. Click a chart to drill down one level.

4cases from 3 jurisdictions
€4.44mTotal of monetary amounts (3 cases with an amount)
€441,276Median per case with an amount

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When?

per quarter, by date of decision
Trend
PeriodCasesTotal
Q3 20230—
Q4 20231€441,276
Q1 20240—
Q2 20240—
Q3 20240—
Q4 20240—
Q1 20250—
Q2 20250—
Q3 20250—
Q4 20250—
Q1 20261€4m
Q2 20260—
Q3 20262€500

4 cases

19 Aug 2026 WH Media GmbHKommAustria penalises person responsible for W24 over advertising in news programme AustriaMisleading advertising and pricing €500

On 29 May 2024, the Vienna broadcaster W24 aired advertising in split screen within the programme ‘24 Stunden Wien’, did not adequately separate advertising from programming and, at around 50 minutes, significantly exceeded the permitted 12 minutes of advertising per hour. The Austrian Communications Authority (Kommunikationsbehörde Austria, KommAustria) imposed fines totalling 500 EUR (plus 50 EUR in costs) on the body authorised to represent the company externally; the GmbH is jointly and severally liable under § 9 (7) VStG (Austrian Administrative Penal Act).

What organisations can take from it

Advertising time limits and the separation requirement also apply to small regional broadcasters – management is personally liable via § 9 VStG.

Authority / court
Kommunikationsbehörde Austria (KommAustria)
Area of law
Consumer protection and online retail · Misleading advertising and pricing
Legal basis
§ 64 Abs. 2 Z 9 i. V. m. §§ 43 Abs. 2, 44 Abs. 1, 45 Abs. 1 AMD-G; § 9 VStG
Action
Fine
Status of proceedings
final
Sector
Media and online platforms
Culpability
negligent
Mitigating circumstances
No previous record, duration of proceedings, remorseful confession and remedial measures initiated.
Liability of senior managers
Fine imposed on the body responsible externally (§ 9 (1) VStG); the company is jointly and severally liable.
Published
19 Aug 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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29 Jul 2026 Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF)KommAustria finds unlabelled product placement in ORF's ‘Sport aktuell’ AustriaMisleading advertising and pricing Order

In the programme ‘Sport aktuell’ on ORF 1 on 29 July 2025, a logo wall was visible as product placement without being labelled. The Austrian Communications Authority (Kommunikationsbehörde Austria, KommAustria) found, with final effect, a violation of the ORF Act (ORF-Gesetz).

What organisations can take from it

Product placements must be identified and labelled by the editorial team – including logo walls in the background.

Relevance to training and awareness

Labelling of advertising and product placement

Authority / court
Kommunikationsbehörde Austria (KommAustria)
Area of law
Consumer protection and online retail · Misleading advertising and pricing
Legal basis
§ 16 Abs. 5 Z 4 ORF-G
Action
Order
Status of proceedings
final
Sector
Media and online platforms
Published
29 Jul 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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17 Mar 2026 Trustpilot Group Plc, Trustpilot A/S, Trustpilot S.r.l.Trustpilot: 4 million EUR fine for inadequate verification of the authenticity of reviews ItalyFake reviews €4m

According to the AGCM, the review platform did not adequately check whether reviews – including those labelled as "verified" – were genuine, and allowed companies to invite specifically selected customers to leave reviews via paid services, which undermined the representativeness of the star ratings. In addition, information on how the platform works and on paid services was lacking; the authority also saw dark pattern elements in this.

What organisations can take from it

Anyone who advertises with verified reviews must actually carry out the verification and disclose the selective collection of reviews.

Authority / court
Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM)
Area of law
Consumer protection and online retail · Fake reviews
Legal basis
Artt. 20, 21, 22 e 23, comma 1, lett. bb-ter Codice del Consumo
Action
Fine
Status of proceedings
unknown
Sector
Media and online platforms
Published
23 Mar 2026

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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19 Dec 2023 Spark Networks Services GmbHDating site Elittárs: 169 million HUF for concealed restrictions HungaryMisleading advertising and pricing €441,276

The operator of the dating site Elittárs concealed the fact that free registrations did not allow a genuine search for a partner (no profile pictures, no messages) and advertised user numbers that were not attainable for Hungarian customers. Following acknowledgement, the Gazdasági Versenyhivatal (Hungarian Competition Authority, GVH) imposed an almost halved fine of 169 million HUF.

What organisations can take from it

Entry-level offers advertised as free must clearly state material restrictions.

Authority / court
Gazdasági Versenyhivatal (GVH)
Area of law
Consumer protection and online retail · Misleading advertising and pricing
Legal basis
Verbot unlauterer Geschäftspraktiken (VJ/16/2022)
Action
Fine
Status of proceedings
final
Sector
Media and online platforms
Mitigating circumstances
Cooperation, acknowledgement and waiver of legal remedies.
Published
19 Dec 2023

Original amount 169,000,000 HUF, converted at the ECB reference rate of 19 Dec 2023.

Checked against the official source on 25 Sep 2026 · Direct link

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